Not What It Seems
by SimOph52
Summary: Brennan is shot and wakes up somewhere unexpected.
1. Chapter 1

**NEXT! **

**Here it is. **

**R&R**

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"All I'm saying, Bones is that there has to be a compromise in a relationship." Booth said, shoveling some fries into his mouth, "I understand that you don't want kids nor do you want to get married, but suppose you find a guy who you decide you want to spend the rest of your life with who does want those things. Are you really willing to sacrifice the relationship because either a piece of paper that proves your love or the fact that you refuse believe that you would make a good mother?"

Brennan scoffed, "First of all, there is no man that is worth giving up my values for, Booth. And there certainly isn't just one person with whom I can feasibly spend the rest of my life with; I'm sure that there are numerous candidates whom I could share a life with that wouldn't be opposed to a life with no marriage or children just like myself." She said stealing a fry from off of his plate and then lifting her coffee cup to her mouth.

Booth shook his head, "I'm talking about love, Bones. Not contentment. I'm sure there are plenty of men who you could make content and whom can make you content, but love isn't just contentment. It's happiness. It's excitement to go home at the end of the day because they are waiting for you. If you had that opportunity would you really give up on a relationship like that because their views on marriage and children are different than yours? Would you really risk loosing that person because you are unwilling to compromise for them?"

Brennan furrowed her eyebrows and took a sip of her coffee, "Love is just chemicals Booth. I wouldn't be any less or more the person that I am now just because of dopamine and nor epinephrine gave me the feeling of euphoria when I see said hypothetical 'love interest' to which you are referring."

Booth laughed wryly and shook his head in disbelief, "You're avoiding answering my question, Bones."

Brennan heaved her shoulders and sat back in her seat, "Would I compromise my beliefs to make someone I cared about happy? I don't know, Booth. I've never been put in the situation. I guess it would depend on who it was, if I trusted them enough to know that they wouldn't lea…" Brennan stopped suddenly and looked away from him, "There are a lot of other factors that would need to be considered in this kind of situation therefore I cannot answer your question properly using only a hypothetical example."

Booth exhaled loudly and his cell phone went off. Grabbing it off of the table quickly he flipped it open to find that there was a text message from Cam. He looked up at Brennan and smiled, "DNA is a match for Daniel Cooper. Let's go." He said standing up and dropping forty dollars on the table. Brennan stood as well and they both shrugged on their coats and made their way out of the diner and into the car.

"Dispatch 22705." He said into the radio.

"Dispatch." The voice returned.

"Send back up and local units to 1405 Jackson Street."

"Acknowledged 22705."

Booth put the radio back on the console and turned on the sirens, "Bones, I want you to be careful in there. This guy was a Navy Seal, so no funny business."

Brennan scoffed, "Well are you going to let me have a gun this time or do you just want me to be a crouching goose?" she inquired.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Booth couldn't help but laugh lightly, "Sitting duck, Bones. Sitting duck. I'll give you my ankle weapon when we get there." Booth said glancing over at her, "He probably knows that we're on our way by now and has either run, which I doubt, or he has himself armed and is waiting for us." He said.

Daniel Cooper was a twenty eight year old ex Navy Seal who was dishonorably discharged when he was accused and convicted of assault on a number of men in his platoon among other various sexual harassment claims for women on his base. Booth and Brennan had uncovered three sets of female remains that had been raped and beaten to death who turned out to be those women who had made complaints against him. The case was an open and shut, but apprehending this kind of suspect; one who was well connected to the FBI because of family relations and who also knew how to defend himself in hostile situations was always tough to deal with. If Booth had it his way, Brennan would be back at the lab right now because there was no need for her to be put in harms way. However, Temperance Brennan was not a woman to argue with when it came to potentially dangerous situations. Regardless of Booth's numerous attempts to keep her out of situations like this, she always managed to out argue and logic him into letting her come along, but this situation scared him more than most.

"Just promise me that you will stay back, Bones?" he asked.

Brennan looked over at him appraisingly and pulled her arms in closer to her body, "If the situation permits it." She said nodding.

Booth shook his head, "That is not the answer I was hoping to hear." He said, steering the car around a slow moving driver who refused to pull over to the side of the road.

"I'm afraid you're not going to get that answer." She said smugly. Booth sighed inwardly and kept his eyes on the road.

When they arrived at their location the back up had yet to arrive, but Booth had decided that they were going to go in anyway. The house was a small rundown duplex on the outskirts of town. The lawn was overgrown in some places and in others completely bare. Booth crouched down and removed the small black widow from his ankle holster and passed it to Brennan carefully. She grabbed the gun and held it firmly in her coat pocket as they approached the front door. Booth hopped up the front steps of the cement porch with Brennan right behind him. He opened the screen door and knocked forcefully on the door, but the door swung open after the first knock. Booth looked at Brennan warily before looking around at the foyer, "FBI." Booth called, "Daniel Cooper, I have a warrant for your arrest, please show yourself." He said stepping into the house, gun at the ready.

He rounded the corner into the living room and Brennan stood right behind him. Before she could even register what had happened, Booth was on the ground. He had been shot in his shoulder, his weapon scattered from his hand. Brennan pulled her gun from her pocket aiming it around the corner to find Daniel Cooper standing there with a twelve gauge shot gun in his hand. Keeping her gun on him, she crouched beside Booth desperately trying to keep pressure on the wound. She could hear the backup units pulling up outside. Cooper dropped the shotgun as the footsteps approached his front door.

Brennan lowered her weapon. Cooper grabbed her wrist, wrenching the gun from her hand and pulled her into his arms, aiming her own gun at her head. When the police entered, they too were armed and at the ready.

"You all leave now and the doll might live." Cooper said.

Brennan scoffed, "I'm not a doll." She said rolling her eyes.

One of the police officers went to aide the wounded Booth and called on his hand held radio for an ambulance. The officers maintained their positions, holding their guns firmly on Cooper, waiting for the right moment. Brennan was trying to think of what she could do.

"We're going to get you no matter what Cooper. This is only prolonging your arrest." She said.

Cooper tightened his headlock on her, "Shut up." He whispered into her ear menacingly.

Brennan gasped for breath, "It's either this, or these gentlemen end up shooting you to death. Your choice." She said.

Cooper took a moment to consider what she was saying, "You know what? You're right." He said, "But you're coming with me."

He forcefully pushed her to the side and raised his gun. At one moment, three shots rang out. Cooper stumbled and fell back onto a floral print couch. Blood flow ceasing, eyes steady and unmoving, and his last breath exhaled out of his body. Brennan watched as the man's life left his body. She turned to see Booth still lying on the ground being tended to by a police officer, but what grabbed her attention was the others staring at her. She blinked and looked down at her chest which was covered by her own hand. As she peeled her hand away from her chest, she found a massive amount of blood on her shirt. And then she didn't see anything.

* * *

She took in a deep breath and buried her face further into the sheets that smelled like home to her and then rolled onto her back and smiled. There was laughter coming from somewhere and the smell of breakfast wafting through the air. Eggs, she thought, scrambled eggs and toast.

Something was amiss. She opened her eyes and noticed that she was not in her bedroom, nor was she in the hospital. She had never seen this room before. The laughter became more prominent and she abruptly sat up and scurried out of the bed. There was men's clothing on the floor at the foot of the bed. A dress shirt and a pair of dress shoes as well as a plethora of her makeup scattered on one of the dressers and her brainy smurf and jasper sitting contentedly next to a framed picture of herself and Angela at last year's Jeffersonian Christmas Party.

She was utterly confused. Had she been abducted by Cooper? Was what she dreamed a hallucination due to being shot? That wouldn't make sense, she rationalized. She obviously wouldn't have been abducted and then placed into a beautifully decorated room, completely unbound if she were. She made her way over to the closet and opened up the door to reveal a 'his and hers' walk in closet filled with both 'his' and her own wardrobe.

"Oh, good. You're up." A voice said from behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

You may have figured out that I'm doing an old classic plot line by this point, but I just haven't seen any other fictions that have done it so I figured I would! haha

Read and Review as always!

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"Oh, good. You're up." A voice said from behind her.

She turned abruptly to find Booth leaning up against the door frame of the closet, "I was just coming to wake you." He said, pushing up off of the door frame and walking toward her.

"Booth!" she exclaimed, "You scared me."

Booth looked at her oddly, "I haven't heard you call me that in a while." He smiled, "Come on. We made breakfast for you."

"We?" she inquired.

Booth laughed, "Yeah." He said winking at her and then turning around and moving out of the closet.

Brennan followed closely behind, curious as to find out where exactly she was. She exited the bedroom and found herself in a moderately large entry way at the top of a set of wrap around stairs. Booth trampled down the stairs comfortably and walked into another room that Brennan couldn't see yet. She shrugged and followed in his path, walking down the stairs and into what was the kitchen. It was large with black granite counter tops, mahogany tinted cabinets and energy efficient appliances. Booth came to stand in front of her and handed her a cup of coffee, "I didn't give you a proper good morning." He said before leaning in and kissing her.

Brennan was taken aback by the forward move and for a moment didn't fight it, but when her logical side finally kicked back in she pulled away quickly and smiled at him shyly.

"Mommy!" A young girl said, "We made you breakfast!" They both pulled back to see three children staring back up at them. One with a portion of his eggs on his shirt and face and a young girl smiling at her proudly pointing at a breakfast plate that was made up for her. And lastly was a slightly older looking Parker who was giggling at Brennan's expression.

"What?" Parker asked, looking at his father for an answer when she gave none.

Brennan looked up at Booth who also appeared to be confused by her reaction, "What's wrong, Tempe?" he asked quietly.

"Uh…" Brennan stuttered, unsure of how to respond. Instead of responding, she slowly backed out of the kitchen, "Give me… one minute." She said, retreating to the foyer and pressing her back against the wall.

She heard Booth turn around and clap his hands, "Looks like mommy isn't feeling too well. Come on Taylor, eat your eggs."

"But I'm fulled." The young boy whined.

"Daddy?" the young girl asked.

"Yes sweetheart?" Brennan heard Booth answer.

"If mommy is feeling sick, does that mean she's going to have another baby?"

Brennan's eyes widened and immediately looked at her stomach, 'How many babies have I had?' she thought.

Booth coughed loudly from the next room, almost as though he were caught off guard, "I don't think so ladybug."

"Where did Bones go, Dad?" Parker asked.

"I don't know. I'm going to go check on her."

Brennan panicked. She turned abruptly to look at her resources and found a large bag in the hallway which she could only assume was her own. She yanked it open to find diapers and miscellaneous maternal items like loose crayons, a stash of candy, packets of tissues and children's medication.

"Bones, what's up?" Booth asked from behind her.

She dug more deeply into the bag and pulled out the first object she could find, "Got it!" she exclaimed, finding out that the object was a digital camera. She couldn't remember actually owning a digital camera, but then again, she didn't remember bearing the fruit of Booth's loins either. She turned and smiled at him, waving the camera in his face.

"Great idea." He smiled.

They both walked back into the kitchen and Brennan took a few snapshots around the table of their children, which she was still in a state of disbelief over. It appeared as though they had been together for quite some time. Three years at least, considering the ages of the boy and girl who were obviously twins. Despite her need to run away from this familial scene at the breakfast table, she felt a strange sense of comfort and belonging that she couldn't place, and that feeling overpowered her flight response. She was curious about the children, not only because of their obvious genetic link to both her and Booth but also because they were lively, energetic and fascinating to observe in their interaction with each other. It was obvious that the twins had a connection far beyond just being brother and sister and the fact that they resembled her and her partner made it all that much more interesting to observe.

Parker had aged as well and filled out a bit since the last time she had seen him. He was quite a bit taller as well which led Brennan to believe that he was probably about ten or eleven years old and most likely about to start going through puberty. He had already gained some of the stereotypical teenage mannerisms like rolling eyes and slightly reclusive nature when it came to spending time with parents, but he was overall still a good kid and you could see in his eyes how protective he was of the younger children, in particular the girl.

They had finished their meal and Booth stood up and began collecting their plates, "Okay guys. Upstairs and get dressed for school, okay?" he said.

All of the kids made their way upstairs when Brennan heard a high pitched squeal from somewhere in the house. Normally when she heard this sound it was most likely Angela, but this time the pitch was completely different.

Booth looked up at the ceiling and smiled, "Looks like our little sleepy head is up. You want to get her or should I?"

Brennan opened her mouth to answer and found herself at a loss of words. She looked toward the stairs and then back at Booth who looked concerned for her, "Bones, are you okay? You've been quiet all morning."

Brennan shook her head silently as tears began to form in her eyes. Without thinking, she flung herself at his chest and gripped him tightly around his waist, burying her face into his chest, "I don't know what is going, Booth." She murmured into his shirt, "I'm so confused."


	3. Chapter 3

**Here is the next chapter! I'm so glad that you guys like it so far. Don't worry about being confused because there is a lot that won't be explained until pretty much the last couple of chapters. It's kind of the way I roll. haha **

**It's my way of keeping you hooked... like a drug dealer but with words instead of drugs. Crack is whack, just say no. Stay in school!**

**R&R!**

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"I don't know what is going, Booth." She murmured into his shirt, "I'm so confused."

Booth hesitantly held her in his arms, "You have to tell me what is wrong, Tempe. Otherwise I can't really help much." He whispered soothingly in her ear.

Another wail emanated from upstairs. Booth looked toward the stairs and then back at Brennan, "Come on. We'll go together." He said, relinquishing his hold on her and pulling her by the hand up the stairs and down the hallway. Booth stopped at a door in the hall and gently pushed it open revealing a yellow nursery with white furniture lining the walls.

The room was decorated in with pictures of cartoon animals shaded in pastels with matching fabrics and curtains. On the wall was a picture of herself, Booth, Parker and the twins in the snow and on an adjacent wall were wooden block cutouts spelling the name 'Abigail'. He walked into the room and straight over to the crib bending over and scooped up a small bundle in his arms. He turned and smiled at her, rocking the bundle in his arms.

Brennan hesitantly stepped over to him and reached for the bundle herself. He shifted the baby into her arms and she gently pulled the fabric of the blanket down to see the baby's face. She had big blue eyes and was curiously studying Temperance's face. She felt a strong hand on her shoulder and looked up at a blurred Booth because of tears in her eyes, one of which escaped down her cheek. Booth tucked her hair behind her ear and gently kissed her cheek, "Are you okay?" he asked.

Brennan shook her head no, "I'm so confused." She whispered, not taking her eyes off of her child.

"After Janice gets here you and I will talk, okay?" he asked.

Brennan rolled her eyes, "Yeah okay."

"We will." He assured her, guiding her out of the baby's room with a hand on her back, "I'm going to make sure the kids are okay. You'll feed Abby?" he asked.

Brennan nodded in response but after he turned away. The last time she had taken care of an infant, at least, the last time she could remember taking care of an infant was when she had temporary custody of Andy, but this infant, this child was hers. She slowly made her way down the steps overly cautious of each step to make sure she didn't trip or fall and moved back into the kitchen.

There was a bassinette in the corner that she hadn't registered on her first trip into the kitchen which she gently placed Abby into and retrieved a pre-made bottle from the refrigerator and warmed it in the microwave. Just as she was about to pick Abby back up the doorbell rang.

She scooped the baby back up in her arms and hurried to the door and opened it. Outside stood a tall lanky woman with a large smile and bright red hair, "Hey Tempe!" he woman greeted her, "Oh! Let me look at your beautiful baby!" she said taking Abby out of Temperance's arms and coddling the baby, "Are the kids ready yet?" she asked.

"Yeah, here they are." Booth said, walking down the stairs followed by the twins and Parker. Brennan crouched down almost intuitively to gather up the twins in her arms and hug them goodbye. They hugged her back excitedly and she kissed each of them on the cheek.

"I love you guys so much, you know that right?" She said softly.

"Love you too, Mommy." The little girl said.

"Love you too." Taylor repeated.

With a heavy sigh she reluctantly let them go and stood up. They went to their father to say goodbye and Brennan reached out and pulled Parker into a hug, kissing him on the cheek and telling him she loved him as well.

"I love you too, Bones." He said curiously, pulling out of the hug, "Are you sure you're feeling okay?" he asked sounding concerned.

Brennan plastered a smile on her face and nodded, "Yeah. Don't worry about me. I'm fine."

Parker studied her face, giving her the impression that he didn't believe her, "Okay."

Brennan smiled at him and turned back toward Booth, then turned abruptly, "Oh! Do you have money for lunch?" She asked him.

Parker turned back toward her and smiled, "Uh, yeah. I gotta go or I'm going to miss the bus." He said skipping down the steps.

"Have a good day at school, Park!" Booth yelled out the door after him.

"Bye Dad." He shouted over his shoulder as he walked down the walkway.

Janice handed the baby back to Brennan and she carefully shifted the baby into her arms more comfortably and watched her children run out the door to the waiting minivan in the driveway. Brennan sighed as the van pulled out of the driveway and Booth shut the front door and turned to face her expectantly.

"What?" Brennan asked defensively even though she knew exactly why he was looking at her like that.

"What is going on with you, Tempe?" he asked, "You've only been awake for an hour and a half and I can already tell that something is very off with you."

"Don't call me Tempe." She said quickly under her breath.

Booth shifted on his feet and stared at her diverted eyes questioningly, "What do you want me to call you then?" he asked.

"Bones." She answered simply.

Booth released an exhausted breath and guided her back into the kitchen and sat down at the table with her, grabbing the baby's bottle before he sat down in the chair adjacent to her own. Brennan tentatively offered the baby the nipple of the bottle and a pang of excitement passed through her stomach when she latched onto the bottle in the first try. Brennan smiled and looked up at Booth who looked concerned, "Talk to me, please." He said softly.

Brennan shook her head and looked down at the table, "I don't know. The last thing I remember is getting shot by Daniel Cooper. You and I were just partners, Parker was six years old turning seven in a month and you and I had no children together." She said, feeling the tears welling in her eyes, "I don't even know the little girl's name. I found out that this is Abigail because of the placard on her wall and you said this morning, 'Taylor you need to finish your eggs and the little boy responded to you, but what is the little girl's name?" she asked desperately.

Booth sat back in his seat. His complexion had gone ashen and all of the muscles in his face were slack, "You don't remember any of this?" he asked softly, almost sounding as though he were going to be sick.

Brennan shook her head and wiped the tears that were falling from her eyes with the back of her hand, "But I want to Booth. I really want to remember, please don't doubt that."

Booth shook his head, "I don't doubt you." He said, his voice was raspy, "You're a wonderful mother and I don't think I've ever seen you happier than here in this family."

Brennan nodded, coddling the baby in her arms, "What is the little girl's name?" she asked.

Booth cleared his throat and leaned forward on the table, resting his forearms on the surface, "Her name… is Christine and her twin brother is Taylor and they are both three and a half years old. Abby there," he said gesturing at the baby in Brennan's arms, "Is nine months old. You and I have been together for five years now. Married for two years."

"Married?" Brennan asked, raising her voice slightly, "I'm married as well? That doesn't sound like a compromise, Booth!" she complained.

He let out a half hearted laugh, "In my defense, you proposed to me."

Brennan's eyes widened, "I did?" she asked, puffing out her chest like he often did when his alpha male attributes were complemented.

He smiled genuinely this time, "Yeah. You were keeping the kids at your office in a playpen so that you could work and watch over them at the same time. You had also hired a part time nanny to keep them occupied while you were working on the remains or out in the field with me. Anyway, one day while you were on the platform the nanny comes running out of your office shouting at you to come immediately. So you rushed into your office to find that our little Teener was trying to walk by herself. It was early and she hadn't really even crawled by herself before she was on her feet. You immediately grabbed the kids and ran over to the Hoover to find me. I was in a department meeting when you found me." He said, laughing at the memory, "You stormed in, interrupting the whole thing. Cullen wasn't too happy about that, but when you put Teener down on the conference room table and encouraged her to show daddy what she could do, everyone in the meeting was mesmerized by her and forgot all about the meeting. She took about three steps on her own and then lost her balance and before she even touched the table I had grabbed her. I was coddling her and telling her how amazing that was and she was cooing up at me and then, I don't know, you just blurted out the words, 'Marry me'. Right there in front of everyone in my department." He laughed.

Brennan laughed as well, "So, the wedding?" she asked, curious as to what it was like.

Booth held up a finger and stood up from the table moving to a bookshelf in the corner of the kitchen and picked up a frame and looked at it before turning it around for her to see. It was a picture of them at their wedding on the dance floor at the reception. Her dress was a pastel blue fitted in the torso and falling away from the body all the way to the floor. His tux was a standard traditional black with a blue tie to match her dress. They were clutching each other in what appeared to be a slow dance; him smiling widely and staring at her and she had her head thrown back in a fit of laughter.

Brennan studied the picture and rubbed her thumb over the picture, "Angela took this." She stated.

"Yeah." He said looking over her shoulder, "We had a church ceremony but you forced the priest to remove everything religious from the service."

Brennan smiled, "Now that sounds like a good compromise."

"On the day of the wedding instead of the usual procession where the bride and her father walk down the aisle together slowly, you barreled down the aisle, dragging Max along with you and when you reached the alter everyone was laughing and shaking their heads. You had said 'If I wanted to take my time getting to this point I would have taken longer than two weeks to plan the wedding'."

They both laughed and smiled at each other. She could see that their relationship was still just as stable if not concrete after being together in a romantic sense. She could only imagine how broken up he was about her no longer remembering the last five years with him, but he seemed to be extremely understanding.

Normally when something was wrong with her he would push the issue and become extremely overprotective of her, but right now it was almost as though he was waiting for her to make the call; to let him know if she needed something which was comforting in a way but made her realize how much she missed his hovering, "You don't seem upset about this, Booth."

He straightened up and walked around the other side of the table and sat back down, "I am upset about this, but it isn't your fault. I'm going to take you to the doctors though so we're both going to call out of work today." He said.

"Why aren't you angry at me, Booth?"

Booth gave her a comforting smile, "Things have never been easy for us Temperance. In fact, the only easy thing about our lives is our relationship and even then, people and criminals try to take advantage of us. This thing, this memory loss, it's just another bump in the road. I'm just praying that the memory loss isn't due to a serious underlying health problem."

Brennan nodded and put the bottle down on the table and hitched the baby up onto her shoulder. She slowly and methodically patted the babies back until she burped and then cooed softly in her mother's ear.

He smiled at the picture in front of him, "Five years…" he thought out loud to himself.

It was a strange situation. She both felt like a stranger to this lifestyle while also feeling like the whole scenario was a very long déjà vu. She felt at home but she wasn't entirely comfortable with the domestic atmosphere. Perhaps she just needed to get used to it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry about the wait. Yesterday was my brother's birthday. **

**I WILL BE POSTING ANOTHER CHAPTER TONIGHT! Keep an eye out!**

**R&R please**

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"Is he our family doctor?" Brennan asked stepping out of the doctor's office, Booth attempting to catch up with her.

"Yeah, why? What happened?" he asked.

Brennan turned and looked at him while still charging toward the car, "After explaining to him that I can't remember anything from the past five years, he asked me if I've hit my head." She seethed anger.

"What's wrong with that?" Booth asked, almost jogging next to her, trying to keep up.

Brennan stopped abruptly and looked at him incredulously, "Are you kidding?" she asked. Booth held out his hands defensively and she planted hers on her hips, "If I can't remember the past five years, then it stands to reason that I wouldn't remember hitting my head, would I?"

Booth smiled, and then the smile grew into laughter. Brennan was fuming and the idea that he was laughing rather than agreeing with her or at least trying to make it better angered her, but after a minute her features softened and she rolled her eyes, "I'm serious, Booth! If our children fall ill then I don't want him treating them!" she whined, trying not to laugh.

Having been hunched over in a fit of laughter, Booth straightened up and put his hands on her shoulders, "Bones, he was just making a joke."

"No he wasn't, Booth!" she said defensively.

"Yes he was. Dr. Hunter is a very good doctor. You picked him out of our insurance. Granted, he has an odd sense of humor; a sense of humor that you never understood, but trust me when I say he was joking."

Brennan huffed and crossed her arms, "Are you sure?" she asked.

The remnants of his last giggles escaped him, "Yes, I am sure. So what did he say?"

Brennan exhaled, "He gave me referrals for an MRI and a CT scan. He wants them done this afternoon."

Booth nodded, his face becoming more serious, "Okay then." He said guiding her into the truck and taking his usual seat behind the wheel, "So diner for lunch and then to the testing center?" he asked.

Brennan's face lit up, "Yeah, sure." Booth smiled widely at her and started the ignition.

When they arrived at the diner, the bell over the door rang out and Brennan pulled on his sleeve causing him to look over his shoulder at her, "Are you sure that Abby is safe with that woman?" she asked.

Booth smiled, "Yeah, I'm positive that she is okay. Julia is a good nanny and came highly recommended. I ran a background check on her before we hired her and you gave her the third degree as well. You have nothing to worry about." He said comfortingly and sitting down at their table.

"Okay." She said skeptically, "So, what has the past five years been like?" she asked.

Booth shrugged, "Not much different from when we were partners, but, ya know, with kids. You and Parker are really close, we still bicker all the time and it's obvious that you love Taylor, Christine and Abby." He said.

Brennan smiled, "Good. So we have a happy loving family."

Booth smiled, "Yeah."

Brennan was never good at reading people but she suspected that Booth was withholding information from her. She looked at him skeptically but was cut off in her thoughts when the waitress came over and asked for their orders.

The diner was quiet as it was a little early in the day for lunch hours just yet. The partners sat silently eating their meals, both in deep thought; Brennan trying to adjust to the new life that she woke up in this morning and Booth trying to process the fact that his wife couldn't remember the past five years of their life which were the most crucial in their relationship since they had met each other.

When they finished their meal, Booth laid some money down on the table and they quietly made their way out of the diner and back into the SUV. When they arrived at the testing center Brennan was immediately escorted into a room, leaving Booth to sit in the lobby for three hours by himself. He was worried about something being wrong with her and what scared him more than anything was the idea that if there was something wrong, she may feel the need to leave him and the family that they created together because of her incessant insecurities about being a burden to the people that she loved.

Brennan was a strong minded individual and that was one of the many reasons why Booth loved her so much and probably the main reason he fell in love with her to begin with. When she made up her mind about something there was no going back which was why this memory loss was both a blessing and a curse. He prayed that she was okay and that there wasn't anything physically wrong with her, but he couldn't help being relieved in some small way. He just hoped that she wouldn't find out.

When the clock struck at two thirty eight, the door to the room that she had been sequestered in opened and she waved for him to come him. He shakily stood from the uncomfortable wooden chair and made his way inside the room. Brennan sat on a padded examination table and he took a seat in yet another uncomfortable plastic chair across from where the doctor sat intently reviewing the test results. When they had both settled into their seats, the doctor looked up at them and smiled.

"Mr. Booth, my name is Doctor Schetfeild and I conducted the tests on your wife this afternoon."

Booth smiled nervously at the man, "It's nice to meet you. So, what is going on?" he asked, glancing up at his wife and then back at the doctor.

The doctor smiled again and placed the results on the desk behind him, "From what I can tell of the test results, there is absolutely no medical reason for the memory loss. Your wife is in perfect health and there is nothing to be concerned about physically. However, in such a random and rare case of amnesia that had no direct cause, I think it would be advisable for you," he said nodding his head toward Brennan, "to see a psychologist to see if this amnesia was caused by an emotional breakdown of some sort."

Brennan smiled smugly at the doctor, "Thank you for your concern doctor, but as long as there is nothing wrong with me in your opinion than a psychologist is unnecessary." She said, hopping off of the table and turning to Booth.

The doctor stood abruptly and took a step toward her, "Ms. Brennan, I didn't say that I don't think anything is wrong with you, merely that the tests say that your amnesia is not caused by any physical ailments. If you want to recover your memories than time spent with a trained professional might be worthwhile."

Brennan smiled at the doctor and shrugged on her coat, "I don't view psychology as a valid science and I'm not going to waste my time talking to someone about my feelings if there is no guarantee that it will help. My memories should reappear in their own time and when I find something that might be the cause of my 'severe emotional distress' then I will deal with it accordingly." She said, walking to the door and opening it.

"Ms. Brennan, I must insist…" he said.

Booth patted the doctor on the shoulder and smiled, "You heard the lady, doc." He said before jogging out of the room to catch up with his wife.

When he finally caught up with her, about halfway across the parking lot his cell phone rang. Brennan stopped so that he could talk to whoever was on the other line. He frowned and looked up at her and then down at the ground where his feet were shuffling some loose stones underfoot.

He hung up the phone and looked up at her, "I have to go into the office for about an hour. Something about a case that we were working on…" he said trailing off.

Brennan's eyes widened, "They didn't split us up when we got married?" she asked excitedly.

Booth returned her smile, "Yeah. Cullen didn't want us separated because we work so well together. We were on a probationary period for the first year, but we kept our noses clean and over time they just… let us be." He said.

Brennan smiled. She never could have imagined that her life could have been this good. She was a mother and in love with Booth and still doing what she did best side by side with the one man who had never let her down. It seemed too good to be true.

She clenched her fists and took a deep breath, and before she could talk herself out of it, she put her hands around his neck and pulled him down into a kiss. It was gently and passionate and she had never experienced anything better than Seeley Booth's lips pressed upon her own, at least that she could remember.

He ran his fingers through her hair and pulled back. He was elated. His eyes were adoring her and she could feel his penetrating gaze all the way down to her toes, even though she knew that that was impossible.

His hand moved from her hair to her cheek, "That was almost better than our first kiss." He said softly.

Brennan smiled, "Well for me, it was our first kiss, obviously excluding the 'under the mistletoe' bribery tactic that Caroline forced upon us."

Booth laughed, "So love, do you want to come with me to the office or go home?" he asked, "And no I won't take you to the lab."

Brennan's shoulders dropped slightly in defeat, "Home I guess then. I want to learn the house and see Abby again." She said, her excitement about seeing Abby growing on her features. Booth nodded and then unlocked the car. They both climbed in and he started the car and weaved his way back through the streets of DC toward home.

He dropped her off with a kiss and a promise to be home as soon as possible. Brennan walked up the front path and took note of the house. It was fairly large, most likely larger than Booth would like and smaller than she could afford, no doubt the appeal of it was that they could both put money into it while still having a modest amount of luxury.

She slid the key into the lock and opened the door to find Julia sitting on the couch feeding Abby a bottle and watching television in the living room. She closed the door and walked over to the couch, greeting the nanny and gently taking her little girl into her arms to resume her feeding.

Julia sighed, "You know," she said standing up and preparing her things to leave, "I have to tell you that I've been doing this for a really long time and normally I have only worked with the elite and rich families who don't take any interest in their children other than breeding them to be carbon copies of themselves. I just… It's really nice to see your family. It's refreshing to know that there are still wealthy families who are not only hard working people like you and Mr. Booth whose job entails fighting crime and making our city safe, but that you also are fiercely dedicated to your children. I just thought that you should know that I really respect you Doctor Brennan."

Brennan smiled at Julia, "Thank you so much for your kind words. That really means a lot to me and I'm sure it will mean a lot to Booth as well. He always believes that he isn't doing his best at being a father." She said shaking his head.

Julia smiled, "He's a wonderful father. You're really lucky to have him."

"I know I am." She said looking down at the infant in her arms, "So, do I pay you now or…?"

"Oh!" Julia said, "No, You pay me on a bi-weekly basis. Don't worry about it for right now."

Brennan nodded, "Okay then, enjoy the rest of your day Julia."

Julia shrugged on her coat and started walking towards the front door, "I hope you get your memory back soon Dr. Brennan."

"Thank you!" Brennan called after her before hearing the door click shut. Abby finished the bottle and smiled up at her mother who quickly shifted her over her shoulder and began patted her back, "Let's go look at our house. What do you say baby girl?" she asked Abby, "Yup. Sounds like a good idea to me too."

Brennan looked around the living room and moved into the formal dining room which had Lenox china wear stacked in the display cabinet. The table was cherry oak and seated anywhere from eight to sixteen people with added leafs. Next she went into the kitchen which she had seen earlier that day. She opened up the refrigerator and examined the contents which for the most part she approved of aside from the frozen steaks and ground beef that was shoved into a corner of the freezer.

She continued through the rest of the downstairs until she was satisfied, still patting Abby on the back. On her way up the stairs Abby burped and then began laughing. Brennan held Abby out in front of her and watched as her little baby laughed with a huge smile on her face, one that was evident was passed down from Booth. Brennan delicately placed a kiss on Abby's cheek and cradled her on her hip and ascended the stairs. She went into Parker's room first, which was evident by the clutter that was piled into the corner and the action figure super hero posters that lined the wall. He was always fascinated by superheroes when he was younger and she could see that he hadn't yet grown out of it. Next was the twin's room. Their walls were painted both pink and blue, straight down the middle so it was obvious whose side was whose. On Christine's side, her shelves were covered with dolls and stuffed animals that were well worn in and on Taylor's side were action figures and posters that very much mimicked Parker's room. She had already seen Abby's room, but decided to put her down for a nap.

She laid Abby down in her crib and stroked her cheek before carrying on further into the house. The only door she hadn't opened yet was one that was right next to their master bedroom. She opened the door to find an office. There were two desks inside, one which she assumed was hers and the other most likely Booth's. There were files on top of both desks, and her's also had x-rays and medical information from victims including a few facial reconstructions. She looked over the files and the information in the cases. All of them had been solved. When she reached the end of the pile, there was another file folder that wasn't from the Jeffersonian or the FBI. Flipping open the file she immediately frowned and felt the tears coming to her eyes involuntarily. She quickly shut it and fished her cell phone out of her pocket and hit speed dial 1.

"Booth." He said.

"Why do I have divorce papers on my desk?" she asked.


	5. Chapter 5

**As promised, a second chapter! Hope you like it**

**Please review (And thanks to those of you who have been reviewing!)**

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"_Why do I have divorce papers on my desk?" she asked._

"Oh crap." He said under his breath.

"Tell me why I wanted to divorce you, Booth." She demanded.

He exhaled loudly, "I'll be home in twenty minutes. Don't go anywhere until I get there." He said.

"Okay."

"Promise me, Bones." He said forcefully.

Brennan rolled her eyes, "I promise." She said reluctantly, "Besides I sent Julia home. I need to look after Abby."

"Okay. I'll be home soon."

She hung up the phone and placed it on the desk beside the file. She picked up the document and began reading it over. She had signed the papers and dated them two days ago and Booth's signature had yet to be filled in. The reason for the divorce was stated as 'irreconcilable differences' which was probably the most vague explanation that someone could come up with. Other than that, the document was full of legal jargon that although she could understand didn't make much sense.

She couldn't understand why she had wanted to divorce Booth especially since she was the one who had proposed in the first place. She knew how stubborn she was and when she had made the decision to marry him she had to have been absolutely sure that things would work out between them. Not only that, but knowing Booth's beliefs and morals would automatically insinuate that if their marriage didn't work out there was no escape clause. If she had decided to marry him, she would have had to know that she wouldn't be able to divorce him unless the circumstances were absolutely dire which in her mind would be abuse of some sort; which she knew very well Booth was incapable of when concerning the people he loved.

She could feel in the pit of her stomach that the reason for this divorce was troubling and felt innately that she didn't really want it, but then why would she have gone through the trouble if she didn't have a genuinely valid reason. She picked up the file and her phone off of her desk and made her way down to the kitchen, checking in on Abby before she descended the stairs.

She made herself a snack consisting of bread and jelly before sitting at the kitchen table still running through the possibilities in her mind. That was how Booth found her when he entered their home. He knew he should have told her before about this, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. This was the first day in a long stream of unhappiness that she was like her old self again. He had been planning on trying to make things better for her and he wanted to show her that it could still work despite her beliefs that their marriage was doomed, so when she woke up this morning and was unable to remember the last five years, he saw it as an opportunity to make things right; to show her how good things were between them. But it backfired on him, just as most things in his life do, and he know regarded it as a cruel joke that God was playing on him as a punishment for his actions in wartime.

He walked over to the table and sat down across from her, stealing a piece of bread from the bag and smearing jelly over it, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you." He said softly before taking a bite.

Brennan exhaled and pushed the document away from her, "Why didn't you?" she asked.

"Things… haven't been very good for a while between us. I just… I hoped that you could see that it was okay, that we were okay and that maybe you would change your mind about divorcing me. When you woke up this morning, aside from being worried about your health, I felt happy in a way. I hoped that maybe we could start over."

"What happened?" she asked.

"It was after Abby was born. You were depressed. You didn't want to hold her or see her. I tried to force you to take care of her, but you refused. You thought you were an unfit mother because you couldn't stand to look at her. One day it dawned on me that you had post partum depression and I took you to the doctor. You were so angry with me, insisting that nothing was wrong; that it was just the kind of person you are and that there is nothing that can fix you. You told me that I should have known that you couldn't handle it and that getting married to me was a mistake." He said hanging his head. Temperance reached over and grabbed his hand comfortingly, "The doctor prescribed some medication and you got better but you still blamed me. You thought that I was the reason that you hated Abby in the first place and then after you were better and taking care of her, you became overly protective of her… you barely let me touch her. I think you were trying to make up for the things you had said about her. Things just kind of fell apart from there. I ended up sleeping on the couch every night because you refused to let me into our bedroom unless I needed to change or shower. I really… I don't know what was going on. All I wanted to do was be there for you and all you wanted to do was push me further away."

"The other day you confronted me with divorce papers saying that it wasn't working out and that you would appreciate the divorce to go as swiftly as possible and I respectfully declined to sign the papers. You mean too much to me to just give up on. I wasn't about to let you run away from me and quite honestly I knew that you didn't really want me to sign them. I saw a hint of relief behind the anger. I didn't care what it took, but I was going to make you fall in love with me again. I can't be happy with anyone else, Temperance."

Temperance wiped a tear away from his cheek, "I'm sorry." She said softly.

"So," he said smiling slightly and looking up at her again, "Does this mean no divorce?" he asked.

Temperance looked at the papers and then down at the table, "I don't think that would be a wise decision at this stage. For all I know, there may have been a valid reason behind it all and I… I need time to process all of this information. I can tell you that you were right about me not wanting to divorce you, because I can feel that emotion in what you would refer to as 'my gut', but I don't have all of the answers that I need to make an informed decision. For right now, no divorce, but I can't promise that I won't change my mind. Is that okay?" she asked.

Booth nodded. He had hoped that she would tear up the papers or jump into his lap and kiss him affectionately like she had in the parking lot earlier that day, but as always, she went the logical route. He smiled at her and stood up from the table, "It's fine." He said hoarsely, "I'm going to go and check on my princess." He said, leaving the table and Temperance in the kitchen.

Temperance leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. She had no idea what she was going to do, but if anyone knew where her head was before she lost her memory; it was Angela. She jogged upstairs to inform Booth of what she was doing and set off for the lab for an attempt at girl talk.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey! Thanks for all of the reviews! Keep them coming!**

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Brennan rushed into the Medico-legal lab in a tizzy. The only think on her mind was finding out the truth about what had happened to her marriage in the past six months. She hastily made her way to Angela's office and burst through the doors to find a sight that she never expected; Angela sitting at her desk holding a two year old on her lap.

Hearing someone enter her office, Angela turned around and her face lit up when she saw who it was, "Hey sweetie. Sorry about bringing Michael in today, but I figured with you out sick and Cam on vacation no one would really mind."

Michael enthusiastically waved at her, "Hi Auntempie." He giggled.

Brennan smiled at him and back at Angela, "Don't worry about it. It's fine."

"So," Angela said plopping her son down on the carpet and turning to her, "What is going on? I thought you were sick today." She asked.

"Booth didn't tell you?" she asked.

Angela laughed, "Tell me what?"

"I have amnesia. I don't remember the last five years of my life."

Angela's eyes widened and her hand slapped over her mouth in shock, "Oh my God. Did you see a doctor?" she asked.

Temperance nodded, "Yes. I went this morning and had an MRI and CT done this afternoon and the only thing they can come up with is that I had an emotional crisis. There isn't anything wrong physically." She said, squatting down to intercept the wobbling toddler.

Angela placed a hand over her heart and sighed, "Oh, thank God."

"God has nothing to do with it, Ange." She quickly retorted, bouncing the child on her hip. She looked up at Angela, "I need to talk to you in private."

Angela quickly nodded and walked towards her door, "Jack!" she yelled.

The curly haired scientist jogged up to the door, "Hey, what's up?" he asked, then spotting Brennan, "Hey Doctor B. I thought you were…" he started.

"Not the time, Jack. Emergency girl talk." She said, briskly taking Michael out of Brennan's arms and handing him over to his father.

"Ohhhh…" he said enthusiastically, "Is it juicy?" he asked.

Angela smiled and shut the door in his face, "Bye!"

Angela turned around to see a confused expression on Brennan's face, "You two got back together?" she asked.

Angela tilted her head in confusion and then her eyes widened in recognition, "Oh right, five years. Yeah. We got back together shortly after you and Booth started dating, and Michael is our son and you and Booth's godson."

"Oh." Brennan said, "I agreed to that?" she asked.

"Most enthusiastically, might I add." Angela replied, then steering Brennan to the couch to sit, "So, what is going on?"

Brennan took a deep breath and then met Angela's eyes, "I found divorce papers on my desk. I had signed them and Booth hadn't."

Angela's face fell, "No!" she whined, placing her head in her hands, "I told you not to draw up those papers, Bren!"

"That's not why I'm here, Angela. What I need to know is why I did it. Booth gave me a reason, but I don't think that that is all to the story." She said.

"Well, what did Booth tell you?" she asked.

"Essentially that I had post partum depression after Abby was born, then was treated and became overly possessive of her and distancing myself from him. Then apparently I approached him about the divorce and he refused to give it to me, asking if I would give it another chance to make things right." Brennan sighed, "I don't think that that is all to the story. I know I have a tendency to close myself off, but this whole scenario just isn't rational. Booth always gets through to me. I even let him back in after he faked his own death, leaving me abandoned and alone for two weeks. I just don't understand why this time I chose not to let him in." she explained.

Angela sighed, "You're right. It isn't the whole story." She said, defeated.

"Go on." Brennan coaxed.

Angela sighed again and looked at her friend before looking away, "You… you told me that you thought he was cheating on you. You had overheard a conversation that he had on the phone with someone and…"

Brennan groaned, "Oh no." she whispered and held her head in her hands, "It makes sense."

Angela popped up immediately in her seat, "No it doesn't, Bren."

Brennan looked up at her, "Yes it does. He was relieved when I couldn't remember anything this morning, Ange. He excluded this information from the story that he told me."

Angela scoffed, "He _excluded _the information Bren, because you never talked to him about it. You never asked him if it was true! You did what you always do, Brennan; fix the problem yourself so that no one can see you in pain. You wallow in self pity but you never give anyone the chance to explain themselves because you won't accept what they have to say because as always, you are right and they are wrong. For someone who is so factually based in the work place, Bren; I gotta tell you, you need to learn how not to jump to conclusions when it comes to your own life.

"Booth could never cheat on you. I bet he would vomit before his belt buckle even came undone. That man values your life more than his own life and no matter how hard he tries you refuse to accept him." Angela exclaimed, realizing that Brennan was in a total state of shock from her words. Angela closed her eyes for a moment and then placed her hand on Brennan's leg, "The day of your wedding, you asked me to go to him with the gift that you had bought him specifically for the day of your wedding. When I got there all the men were getting ready and Booth asked them if he could have a moment alone with me. I starting giving him this joke-y spiel about not hurting you; joke-y because I knew he would never hurt you. When I gave him the gift that you got for him, he opened the box and... he started bawling. It turns out they were his great grandfather's cufflinks; the same cufflinks that his great grandfather wore on the day of his wedding, and his grandfather and his own father. His dad told him that they were lost in storage somewhere and he didn't have the time to dig them out, but what it really was was that his father didn't care enough to drag himself away from the bar to find them for his son. You took two days off work, telling everyone that you were going on a short trip to Michigan to instead drive to Philly and drag his father home to find them.

"Booth… he told me that the only way that his father would relinquish those cufflinks to him would be to marry a girl whom his father believed was appropriate. Apparently his father didn't think that you were, but at the end of those two days, you drove back to D.C. with those cufflinks in your pocket. He told me that he didn't deserve you; that you were too good for him. He said he had done so many horrible things in his life that he couldn't see why God was blessing him with the perfect woman; and he vowed to God that he would never hurt you and prayed that he would never be a disappointment to you. And then, after we had both dried our tears," Angela said, chuckling through the tears that were streaming down her face again, "He gave me a present to bring back to you." She said, removing the wedding ring from Brennan's finger and taking the band off of it. She flipped the wedding band and swiped a finger over the engraving, then handing it back to her. The engraving read 'It's just you and me; family.'

Brennan looked at the engraving and played with the band in her fingers, "You're right, Angela. You're right about everything." She said, rubbing the moisture from her cheeks away. She exhaled loudly and took back her wedding ring from Angela and joining the band and the ring back together, slipping it on her finger again.

She stood up and gathered her jacket and purse and Angela stood as well, "I hope I wasn't too hard on you, sweetie." Angela said quietly, "I just love you guys so damn much that I can't bear the thought of you two splitting up for no good reason."

Brennan cleared her throat and shrugged on her coat, "I'll be honest, Ange. You were kind of harsh, but I'm not sure that I don't deserve it; at least a little bit. Rationally speaking, you have me pegged. I know that you're right about me and I… I just hope that I can fix it. I hope that I can change so that this never happens again."

Angela walked over to her friend who was standing at the door and pulled her into a hug, "I'm sorry for being harsh. I love you sweetie and that big lug of yours."

Both women laughed and released the hug, "Thanks for your… insight. Bye." She said, before exiting the door.

Angela opened the door again, "Bye!" she said, before making her way over to her husband and her child.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry it took so long! Forgive me?**

**More tomorrow!**

**REVIEW PLEASE**

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Brennan pulled into the driveway and shut off the car. She had been in such a hurry that she hadn't even begun to think of what she might say or do to make sure he knew what she wanted. She leaned her head back on the headrest and closed her eyes for a moment and before she knew it, she became unreasonably dizzy. There was a loud panging, zinging sound in her ears and low muffles drones, all of which she could not identify.

When she startled awake, she found herself facing the front door with her keys extended toward the doorknob in her right hand. Confused with how she had gotten there, she turned back toward her car and noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Assuming that she just hadn't been paying attention, she put the key in the lock and opened up the front door to find Booth and the kids playing in the kitchen.

She hurried into the house and slammed the door behind her but was interrupted by a loud beeping. She stopped, startled by the sound and Booth came running into the foyer from the kitchen.

"Sorry, I should have reminded you." He said, rushing over to a rather large panel on the wall that was a home security device. He punched in a code and the beeping stopped. He turned to face her, "Security system." He said passively.

"That's a lot of security for a house this size." Brennan said taking a step towards the panel.

Booth rolled his eyes and laughed, "Yeah; it was a house warming present from Hodgins. If the password isn't entered within sixty seconds there is a lockdown that initiates on the house. All of the doors and windows lock and there is practically no way in or out of the house." Booth said guiding her to the panel, "The code is 07-14-20-09. Then you hit the pound key and the alarm is either armed or disarmed."

Brennan smiled and nodded, "Is that our anniversary?" she asked.

Booth smiled slightly and avoided her eyes, "Yeah." After a moment he cleared his throat and turned to her, "Well, we were just deciding on what we wanted for dinner." He said making his way back into the kitchen.

Brennan followed behind him and entered the kitchen to find all of her children gathered around the kitchen table playing a board game that she couldn't identify. Christine looked up at her and smiled brightly, "Mommy!" she squealed, jumping off of her chair and running over to her fiercely grabbing onto her legs in attempt to hug her.

"Hey baby." She said, stooping over to pick the young girl up and hug her appropriately. Taylor, never having been one to be left out repeated Christine's actions and latched himself onto her legs as well.

Booth smiled half heartedly at the display of affection that their children were showing her and clapped his hands, "So what do you guys want for dinner?"

Christine turned to her father and yelled, "Pasta!"

Taylor said, "Cheeseburgers!" while simultaneously trying to out-shout his sister.

Booth looked at Parker who shrugged, "I don't care."

Booth paused for a moment before clapping his hands together, "How about pizza?" he says excitedly and the two little ones cheer emphatically and Parker watched them with a small smile, which he quickly disposed of once he realized Brennan was watching him, "Okay then," Booth said, "You guys get back to the game and I'll order."

The two youngest scrambled back to the table and restarted the game with Parker and Booth walked to the phone and picked it up off of it's base and began searching for the pizza parlor menu.

Brennan hesitantly walked up next to him, "Booth."

"Hm?" he asked looking up at her momentarily and then refocusing on the task of finding the take out menu.

"I really need to speak to you." She said quietly, making sure that the children couldn't hear.

When she said this, he immediately stopped what he was doing and turned to her, fully attentive, "What is it?" he asked, and even though he was attempting to sound nonchalant it came out sounding somewhat fearful and anxious.

Brennan looked over her shoulder at the kids and then back at Booth desperately, "I don't know that this is a good time." She said.

Booth looked over at the kitchen table and sighed, "I suppose you're right. But you have to just tell me; is it good or bad?"

Brennan smiled, "Mostly good." She said, "But I'll be honest with you; I'm going to need you to answer some questions honestly."

Booth beamed at her and swiftly grabbed her face between his hands and kissed her thoroughly; that is, until Christine caught sight of them and let out a loud and bellowing, "EEEEWWWWWWW! Mom and Dad are KISSING!"

Parker snorted and said under his breath, "They could be doing worse."

Christine's faced crinkled in though and Booth's jaw dropped, "Parker Booth! Innuendos of that sort in front of small children are unacceptable." He said, then a spark of realization hit him, "Wait! How do you know about… that! You're only eleven years old!"

Parker laughed, "Health class, Dad. It starts in fifth grade."

Booth looks between Brennan and Parker with a stunned expression on his face, "Absolutely unacceptable." He said, turning back to the counter and throwing his hands up in the air, "What was I even looking for?"

Brennan laughed, "Pizza menu." She said patting him on the back, "Besides, would you rather Parker be ignorant about… all that… with all of the problems that can occur nowadays?" She asked, walking back to the kitchen table and sat down.

"I would rather he not know what… that is until he's in his twenties… and not practice until he's in his fifties." He said, flipping through the numerous menus, "How many take out places do we actually order from?"

Brennan scoffed, "That is absolutely ridiculous, Booth."

"Mommy?" Taylor whined.

"Yeah baby?" she asked.

"What are you talking about?" Taylor asked innocently and Christine nodded.

Brennan looked up at Booth and then back at Taylor, "Uh…" she said, wracking her mind for an alternate activity.

Parker intervened, "Extreme Rollerblading, Tay. It's really dangerous."

Brennan looked at Parker with a mischievous smile and he winked at her much like his father would have in the same situation.

"Ah ha!" Booth said, turning around with the menu held victoriously high in the air, "That took far too long."


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, so here is the deal. I know that I said that I would be posting the day after I last posted, but I'm taking part in a 'posting party' tomorrow on another site and I tend to like to keep my stories on both sites in the same place so that no one gets a sneak peak. So, this is a lead in for what is coming tomorrow.**

**BUT! Tomorrow, for a fact, this story and the second chapter of Solace in Facade will be completed and posted which means, for this story,_ there will be multiple chapter postings_. So, you'll have to keep a lookout for them when the come up because the story won't be bumped to the top after the first post. **

**Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy this chapter and PLEASE REVIEW!**

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Booth went to go get the pizza, taking Parker, Christine and Taylor for a ride with him. Brennan was tending to Abby in the kitchen anxiously awaiting their return. She wanted to talk to Booth. Tell him what had happened with Angela and explain to him why she believed that she had acted that way before she had lost her memory; not to mention the fact that she needed to know why she suspected him of cheating on her.

One thing that Brennan had learned throughout her life is that normally, where there is smoke, there is fire and this only led her to believe that Booth was indeed hiding something from her. Whether that secret was indeed the affair that she had originally been suspicious of or something else completely, now was the time for him to come clean to her about it. She knew that it was most likely something rather than nothing and knowing Booth the way she did, at least five years ago, she knew that he would try to take care of the problem on his own behind her back so that she didn't have to worry about it; much as she had done numerous times in the past with him.

She was startled out of her reverie when the doorbell rang. She carefully laid Abby down in her bassinette and went to the door and opened it to find Julia on the other side.

"Doctor Brennan!" she said enthusiastically.

"Julia. How nice to see you." She said half heartedly, "What can I do for you?"

Julia smiled and pointed toward the living room, "I think my wallet fell out of my purse when I was here earlier. Do you mind if I take a look around?"

Brennan smiled and opened the door wider for her to step through, "No, of course not. Come on in." Brennan said reluctantly.

Julia stepped inside and made her way straight to the living room and began searching for her wallet, "So, how is everything going?" she asked.

Brennan looked at her curiously, "What do you mean?"

Julia got down on her hands and knees and looked under the couch, "Oh, you know. With the memory loss. It must be so disheartening to not remember some of the best years of your life." She said, crawling further down the length of the couch.

Brennan shrugged, "Not so much disheartening as it is surprising. Five years ago I would have never dreamed of this happening, you know, married to my partner with three children. I was never one for the domestic lifestyle and now I find it… fulfilling, I guess."

Julia smiled at her, "Well, I'm glad that you're finding it… fulfilling." She said, from under the couch.

Brennan looked at the girl strangely just as Abby started fussing in the other room, "Do you mind?" Brennan said, pointing in the direction of the baby.

Julia smiled, "Oh, no of course not. I'll just keep checking."

Brennan nodded and made her way into the other room and picking up Abby, "You know, I'm actually glad you're here." Brennan called into the other room.

"Why's that?" Julia called back.

Brennan cleared her throat before continuing, "It's just, I've found out some things about my marriage that have left me with a few questions and I was just wondering if you've noticed anything about Booth in the past few months."

"Like what?" Julia asked.

Brennan shook her head, "I don't know. I have the strangest feeling that he's keeping something from me and I was just curious if you knew what that was?"

Brennan bounced Abby a little to coax her into a better mood and without warning there was a loud slamming sound all throughout the house. She turned toward the sliding glass door and saw it lock suddenly by itself. When she turned around, Julia was standing in the kitchen door, leaning up against the wall with a smile on her face.

"What was that?" Brennan asked.

Julia looked up at the ceiling and pointed, "Oh, you mean that sound?" she asked. Brennan nodded in response, "That sound was the house going on lockdown." She pushed herself off the wall and slowly walked toward Brennan, "Gee, Doctor Brennan." She said sarcastically, "It seems I had my wallet with me the whole time." She smiled, "But look at what I found under the couch." She said holding up a carving knife.

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Don't forget, tomorrow there will be multiple chapters posted for this story.

And my new story will be posted within the next few days featuring a well loved and adorable character from the show... any guesses?


	9. Chapter 9

**The first of many chapters to come today.**

**Please review!**

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Brennan pulled Abby closer into her chest, "Please don't hurt her. Don't hurt my baby." She cried.

"Oh, you would just love that wouldn't you?" Julia asked sarcastically, "I'm sure you'll be sad to know that this knife only has your name written on it, _Doctor Brennan_. But I bet it wouldn't really matter if I did slice little Abby here up into little pieces, wouldn't you?"

Brennan turned slightly, blocking Julia access to the baby, "Don't hurt her." She said defiantly.

"Truthfully, _Doctor Brennan_, I plan on letting her live because I would be a better mother to her than you could ever be." She said stepping closer to her, "Now, put Abby down in the bassinette." She said holding the knife up to Brennan's neck. Brennan quickly nodded and kissed her baby on the forehead, then shakily placing the baby in her bassinette and lowering the hood slightly, "Good." Julia said.

Brennan took a step away from Abby and Julia followed her around the corner of the island, "Why are you doing this, Julia?" she asked.

Julia laughed, "Are you kidding? You have been blessed with three beautiful children and the most wonderful husband even though you never wanted it to begin with. Some people shouldn't be allowed to have children, isn't that right, Doctor Brennan?" she asked, "So why is it, that I, a woman who has only dreamed of becoming a mother for the majority of my life not only can't find a man but am also infertile? I'll tell you why; because the man I should be with is married to a selfish arrogant whore and because the babies I should have brought into this world are yours. You don't even realize how lucky you are, do you?"

Brennan inhaled and started to speak, "I know how lucky I am. I do. I love them so much." She said, keeping a keen eye on the knife that was leading Julia's way.

"Oh please shut up!" Julia moaned, "That's all you care about isn't it? It's always all about you. If you love them so much then why did you hire a nanny to raise your children? If you love them so much then why did you hate the sight of your own baby after she was born? That man that you call your husband was absolutely beside himself when you abandoned your own child; and then you have the nerve to take her away from him? To tell him that he isn't welcome in his own daughter's life? What kind of sick woman would take a child away from her own father?" she asked.

Brennan couldn't control the tears anymore as they began crawling their way down her cheeks, "You're right. I've made plenty of mistakes, but I want to make up for it. You have to let me make up for it, please." Brennan said as her back hit the counter behind her.

Julia smiled and tilted her head to the side, "Sorry, time's up." She said, lifting the knife into the air, readying it to be plunged into the forensic anthropologist.

Brennan took her opportunity and grabbed Julia's arm. Julia struggled against her and Brennan kicked her hard in the stomach subsequently knocking the wind out of her. Brennan ran to the bassinette and retrieved Abby and ran to the front door. It was locked and she couldn't unlock it. _How is this an effective method of security?_ She thought to herself. She had to think fast.

She darted up the stairs, Abby cradled in her arms and went directly into the office that she and Booth shared, locking the door behind her. She turned and faced the room, knowing that there had to be a spare gun in there somewhere. Abby chose that particular moment to begin fussing as well, so she bounced the child a bit and cooed soothing words to her, "It's gonna be alright Abby. Your daddy will be home soon and he'll take down that nanny that I didn't trust in the first place and we'll be just fine." She said.

She moved to Booth's desk and began opening up drawers and ruffling through pages of files attempting to find the location of a gun. In the bottom right hand drawer of the desk, she found a lockbox. She pulled it out and began looking for the key when she heard, "Doctor Brennan, where are you?" Julia asked. Brennan could tell from her voice that she was at the other end of the hall.

Julia walked down to Parker's room and opened the door. The phone began ringing and she stopped at the entrance before consciously deciding not to answer before walking in, "You know, I almost had you at first." She said, throwing open the door to his closet. She sighed and moved out of the room and onto Taylor and Christine's room, "I tried to make him see that I was the better woman and in doing so; in calling him often and trying to get him you began to suspect that he was cheating on you. And I only pushed your paranoid theories forward by telling you things that I had supposedly heard or seen him do while you weren't around. But then you had to get all nosy and get one of your friend's at the FBI to track his phone records and that's when you found out that it was little old me." She said kicking the door open to Christine and Taylor's room. She walked in and cased the room, "So I thought it was really hilarious when you confronted me. You said 'What exactly do you think you're doing with my husband?' in that prissy aristocratic tone that I have come to loathe." She took a step toward the closet and threw it open, once again finding nothing.

She sighed again and lowered her knife in disappointment, "You practically ignored him for the last six months. That's no marriage, Doctor Brennan, that is separation and in my book, that meant he was fair game." She entered the hallway and walked down to Abby's room, "So when you die, and when they have all moved past the burden that is your death, that is when I will make my move. The kids won't mind, considering I've practically been there mother since the beginning." She said, entering Abby's room, "Oh, did I tell you that Taylor accidentally called me mommy two weeks ago. Quite honestly, I don't think it was an accident. I think he knows who the real matriarch of this family is." She threw open the door of the closet in Abby's room only to be disappointed again.

"This is becoming tiresome Temperance." She said walking out into the hallway, "Why don't you just admit that I am better suited for the job. It would make this whole ordeal so much easier. I might even consider sparing your life if you just let me have what I deserve and you just disappear." She came upon the office door and passed it, moving to the hall closet, "I find it very convenient that you lost your memory, don't you? It's almost as though you subconsciously agree with me and the part about how you can't remember about any of your children or marriage is just icing on the cake really. I should have dumped your body in the woods after I knocked you out that day. Then you probably would have wondered around, having no idea who you were and I'd be taking over already. Beginner's mistake, you know?" She flung open the door and groaned, "Ugh, just give it up already." She whined, "Anyway, I didn't know that I would give you amnesia, I barely hit you. Then again, It was with a baseball bat. I'm surprised that you didn't even get a bump or bruise, but then again, you're cold hearted and hard as a shell, aren't you?"

As Julia began to turn toward the bedroom she felt a pressure on the back of her head. She turned to see Brennan smiling victoriously with a gun in her hands pointed straight at her head, "I never really liked psychology." She said.

* * *

**Another Chapter in a few hours!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Next update More to come sooooooon!**

**Review please!**

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"Daddy?" Taylor asked from the backseat.

"Taylor?" Booth asked, lowering the music.

"Where are all of those policemen going?" he asked, looking out the window at the three cop cars that passed them.

Booth shrugged, "I'm not sure bud. But I think that they're probably going to arrest some bad guys. What do you think, Park?" he asked, turning to his eldest in the passenger seat next to him.

Parker nodded vigorously and turned around to face Taylor and Christine, "I bet they're going to our house looking for you because you stole my Led Zepplin t-shirt."

Taylor gasped, "Did not!" Taylor exclaimed.

Parker raised an eyebrow, "I'm searching your closet when we get home, then."

"Fine!" Taylor said, crossing his arms.

"Fine!" Parker said, forcefully turning in his seat. Booth glared at him out of the corner of his eye, but Parker ignored him.

Sheepishly in the back Christine said, "I took it, Parker."

Parker turned aghast, "You? Why?"

Taylor laughed, "Told you so!"

"Ms. Sidney missed you when you went on your boy scout trip." She said softly.

"Isn't Ms. Sidney your doll?" he asked.

Christine pouted, "She missed you and she wanted something to remember you by."

"Oh my God." Booth said.

"Seriously." Parker said, still looking at Christine.

All of a sudden, Booth hit the gas. Parker turned around to see that the cop cars were indeed at their house. He pulled into the driveway and turned to Parker, "Stay in the car and watch them okay?" Parker nodded his head vigorously and watched Booth barrel out of the car.

"What is going on, Parker?" Christine asked.

Parker shook his head, "I don't know Teener." He replied.

Booth jogged over to the man who appeared to be in charge, "Mr. Booth?" he asked, seeing the nervous wreck of a man approaching him.

Booth nodded, "What is going on?" he asked.

"The lockdown on your security system has been activated. When we first came out here we believed that it was either accidental or a system malfunction, but we have been trying to contact you someone inside for the past three minutes and have not as of yet received any response." He relayed.

Booth looked at him wide eyed, "Why aren't you inside already?" he asked, "My wife and child are inside that house!" he yelled.

"Sir, we weren't allowed to make any moves until someone who has clearance to remove the lockdown was contacted or present. Now that you are here and have given us express permission to do so, we will begin to deactivate the lockdown."

The man walked away and began giving orders and Booth immediately turned away and began praying. When he did, however, he notice a car across the street that shouldn't have been there. He jogged over to it and looked inside the front window and knew that it was Julia inside the house. He punched the side of the car angrily and ran back toward the Chief.

"There is a woman in the house with my wife. Her name is Julia McEvoy. She is extremely dangerous and she hates Temperance. You need to save my wife, now! She is in serious danger with this woman."

The Chief turned to him and gave him a once over, "Who is this Julia McEvoy?" he asked.

Booth shook his head, "Didn't you hear a word I said? This woman is dangerous and you're interrogating me while she could be inside murdering the love of my life?"

"My men are working on that Mr. Booth."

"Special Agent Booth" Booth corrected him, trying to invoke the fear of God in the man by mentioning his job at the FBI.

The Chief's eyes widened, "I'm sorry, Sir." He said before turning back to his men, "Get that lockdown disarmed NOW!" he yelled.

Booth smirked slightly at the change in the Chief's disposition, now all he had to do was get in there and get Abby and Temperance out of harms way before he hunted down Julia and strangled her with his bare hands.


	11. Chapter 11

**Next!**

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"When the cat's away the mice will play, huh?" Julia smiled at the gun wielding Brennan.

Brennan shook her head and squinted at the young girl, "That doesn't make any sense in this situation."

Julia shrugged, "It was worth a shot." She said.

"Were you sleeping with my husband?" Brennan asked calmly, knowing that she now had the upper hand.

Julia rolled her eyes, "How could I when all he could talk about was how upset you were all the time?" she said, "Not for lack of trying of course, but he never seemed to take my advances seriously."

Brennan cocked pistol, "Then why did I believe that he was?" she asked.

"God knows why, Doctor Brennan." She said, "You were always the jealous sort, I guess." She took in a heavy breath, "I called him often, he was trying to get me into a psychiatric facility." She admitted.

"So he never cheated on me?" Brennan asked.

"No." Julia answered, "But he'll come around." Julia smiled. Her arrogance becoming apparent.

"Now," Brennan said, sounding much stronger and authoritarian than she had before, "Since I have the better weapon, I'm in control of this situation. Leave now and never come near my family again and I might not hunt you down and kill you, gut you, hang you from a pole and burn your remains in the traditional Brennan family style." She said matter of factly.

Julia sighed, "Alright." She said holding the knife at her side, "But one day, you'll realize that I was right about everything, Doctor Brennan, and you'll regret not making the right choice. You're children love me more and your husband can't stand the sight of you anymore. He just feels bad that you lost your memory."

"Go find another family to terrorize." Brennan said bitterly.

Just as Julia began to turn away from Brennan all of the doors and windows unlocked. Brennan looked down at the front door being busted open and a swarm of police enter the house and running just behind them was Booth. He looked up at her and she looked down at him and smiled. Then his face went blank and Brennan suddenly felt light headed. She turned to see Julia running toward the master bedroom and pulling the window open and jumping out and then down at herself. It was like déjà vu.

Her sweater was covered in blood from an injury in her chest but no weapon was apparent. _She must have taken it with her_ Brennan thought before falling down on the floor. The gun in her hand was released onto the cream colored carpeting and she laid there for what seemed like hours.

Booth saw Julia plunge the knife straight into Brennan's chest and then take off down the hallway. Brennan stood for a moment and he began to race up the stairs, but didn't make it up fast enough to catch her before she fell. He ran to her and covered the wound with his hand but there was already so much blood to contend with, any rational mind would know that it was too late and that she wouldn't make it through this.

Brennan lifted her hand to his face and wiped away his tears with all of the strength that she had in her.

"Temperance!" he shouted, "You can't leave me like this. Oh God, I love you so much. Please! I can't do this without you! Come on Bones, stay with me, please baby!"

She rested her hand on the back of his neck and pulled him closer and he hunched down over her motionless body. Her voice was barely a whisper when she said, "I would do it all over again just to be with you."

Those words broke him. He sobbed into her hair repeating over and over again, "I love you, Temperance. I love you so much." He rubbed her arms trying to maintain her body heat but it was hopeless.

Brennan looked him in the eyes, "I love you Seeley." She said. Her eyes got wide and she coughed and a stream of blood trickled out of her mouth before she finally lost consciousness.


	12. Chapter 12

**Told you I'd be updating alot tonight. Currently drunk with my bro, but this chapter was written before that.... several hours in fact. Hope you like it and I hope that it answers some questions. **

**Review please!!!!**

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She felt something in her throat. It was extraordinarily annoying and uncomfortable. She see the bright lights through her eyelids before she even opened them and she felt her sticky matted skin and desperately wanted to take a shower.

She opened her eyes and saw that the thing in her throat was a breathing tube. She felt her face and found the tape around her mouth and ripped it off before bracing herself to take out the breathing tube. She knew that Booth would be angry at her for taking it out without a doctor around, but she didn't care.

She pulled on the end of the tube and coughed dryly and loudly as she pulled the tube out of her airways. She tossed the tube to the side and slowly sat up. She was dizzy, but paused long enough to get her head feeling normal again before moving. She felt lethargic, like she hadn't moved in a few days, then again, that is what a knife wound to the chest can do to you, and if not that, then the surgery alone can make it even more painful.

She put a hand to her chest and felt the wound beneath the fabric of the hospital gown. She started to move off of the bed when her arm got stuck by the IV. She pulled it out of her arm with a groan of pain and slid off of the bed placing her feet firmly on the floor. It took her a moment to get her bearings and to remember how to walk considering her legs weren't cooperating all that well, but she used the wall as her guide and made her way out into the hall. She grabbed the back of her gown and twisted it around her body because she was unsure whether she was flashing anyone as she made her way to the nurse's station.

When she arrived, she stumbled over to the desk, "Excuse me?" she asked.

"Yes?" the nurse asked before turning around and realizing who it was, "Doctor Brennan, you should not be out of bed!" the woman cried, "Billy!" she yelled to an orderly, "Get a wheelchair for Doctor Brennan and take her back to her room.

Brennan held her hand up to stop the orderly, "That won't be necessary, Billy. I got here just fine on my own and I can get back just as well."

Billy ignored her instructions and went to retrieve a wheelchair anyway, "Doctor Brennan, when did you wake up?" she asked.

"Just a moment ago." Brennan replied.

"What happened to your breathing apparatus and IV drip?" she asked.

Brennan shrugged, "I took them out. They were clearly both unnecessary." She said gesturing at her able bodied body.

"Doctor Brennan, I must insist that you go back to your room this instant so that we can get you back on your IV." The nurse said emphatically.

Brennan waved her off, "That isn't necessary. I'm looking for my husband, I need to know where he is. I'm sure that he has been here because he worries far too much, but I'm sure that one of my friends asked him to go home for some rest or something." She said.

The nurse looked at her for a moment, "Your husband?" She said.

"Yes, Special Agent Seeley Booth. Where did he go?" she asked impatiently.

"Oh, I thought you knew." She said.

Brennan waited for an explanation but received none, "Knew what?"

"He was shot, Doctor Brennan. He's in the room next to yours. We transferred his room to be closer to yours since he was always sneaking down to see you anyways."

Brennan's eyes widened, "How was he shot? Did Julia come after him as well?"

The nurse shrugged, "I don't know anything about that ma'am. He's in room 3204."

Brennan nodded and began to walk down the hall toward his room when she was intercepted by Billy the orderly, "Please Doctor Brennan, take a seat and I will take you back."

"Room 3204, Billy. This is not a negotiation." She said reluctantly sitting in the chair.

Billy rolled her down the hallway quickly. He could tell that she was not a woman to be reckoned with and just did what she asked of him. He opened the door to Booth's room and rolled her in. He was sitting on the bed flipping through channels when he looked up at her. He quickly sat up, jumped off the bed and ripped his own IV out of his arm. He rushed over to her and kneeled down in front of her, taking her hands in his own, "You're awake?" he asked, smiling.

Brennan nodded her head vigorously. Booth leaned over to look at Billy, "Why wasn't I told that she was awake?" he asked.

"Booth." Brennan said, regaining his attention, "Don't intimidate the boy. I only woke up a few minutes ago. They didn't know that I was awake until I walked down to the nurses station and demanded to know where you were." She said.

He laughed and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, "That's my Bones." He smiled.

Booth yet again leaned over and looked at Billy and simply said, "Bye!"

Billy rolled his eyes and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him, "I was so worried about you, Bones."

She smiled, "Everything is fine, Booth. I'm fine. Don't worry about it." She said, "I'm just so happy that we're all safe, you know?" she said. Booth nodded and Brennan leaned down and pressed her lips to his. Booth leaned into her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. They broke apart for a moment and she whispered, "I'm so happy I married you." She said, before leaning in again.

Booth pulled back a bit and pushed her shoulders away from him, "Did you just say that you're happy you married me?" he asked with a smile on his face.

Brennan laughed, "Don't make me punch you." She said.

"No." Booth said, the smile fading slightly, "Really, did you say that?" he asked.

"Yes, why? What's wrong?" she asked.

Booth sat back on his heels and looked at her, "I think you should get back to bed and let the doctor take a look at you."

Brennan tilted her head and looked at him, "Wha-? I'm fine Booth. What is wrong?" she asked.

Booth rubbed his face with both hands and sighed, "Bones, we're… we aren't married." He said.

"What are you talking about Booth? Yes, we are." She said defiantly.

His face changed immediately and he stood up, "Come on, Bones. Let's get you back to your room, okay?"

She grabbed his arm and stopped him from reaching the handlebars of the wheelchair, "No, Booth. What is going on. First, I get shot and then I can't remember the last five years, come to find out I have four children and am married to you and now all of a sudden you say that I'm not married to you? What is this a joke? Did you sign the divorce papers or something?" she asked quite angrily.

Booth just stared at her like she had three heads. He squatted down in front of her and held her hands in his again, "Okay, I need you to listen to me closely, Bones. Can you do that?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes, "Of course I can, Booth. I'm not deficient."

Booth took a big breath and then released it, "You and I have never been married. The only child in the picture is Parker and apart from the mistletoe incident, our first and only kiss happened about two minutes ago. You've been in a coma for a week, Bones and I'm worried that you might have had some sort of brain trauma or something."

Brennan sat quietly for a moment and looked at the man in front of her. Surely it couldn't have all just been a dream, it couldn't have been a dream. She pulled her hands away from him and felt the wound on her chest again. Bullet wound, undoubtedly, "Daniel Cooper." She said plainly.

Booth nodded, "Yes, Daniel Cooper shot you in the chest after he shot me." He said.

Brennan thought it through for a moment and then a smile began to form on her lips. Then, she began laughing, "It was all a dream!" she said, throwing her hands to her head.

"You dreamed about us being married?" he asked.

Brennan nodded and looked up at him, her cheeks flushed, "Yes, I suppose I did. It was just, it was really… real, Booth. I believed that it was all really happening. I feel so stupid now."

"Hey," he said taking one of her hands and rubbing the back of it, "There is no need to feel embarrassed. I've had plenty of dreams about having a family with you."

She looked up at him and smiled, "You have?" she asked.

He looked down at her hand and traced the outline of a wedding ring on it, "You and me? A family? Sure I have, it's my number one day dream." He said.

"That was the engraving." She said softly.

"Engraving?" he asked.

She nodded, "On the wedding ring."

Booth laughed, "Well, now I'm going to have to come up with something different." He laughed. He leaned down and kissed her hand softly and stood up, "I can't believe that this is how we are doing this, but I'm in love with you Temperance."

"I'm in love with you too, Seeley Booth, and don't you forget it!" she said poking his chest. She pulled him down into another kiss and smiled.


	13. Chapter 13

**Here is the last chapter. Hope you like it!**

**New Story coming out soon, so keep and eye out!**

**Review please!**

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6 months later…

Seeley Booth and Temperance Brennan had never been happier. Although they were keeping their relationship a secret from everyone except those at the Jeffersonian, they didn't have any qualms about being with each other all day everyday. They were definitely in their "honeymoon" period, to say the least.

Angela was overly ecstatic about their relationship and had no trouble teasing them about it, essentially turning every other sentence they said into some sort of sexual innuendo.

Today, Seeley Booth decided that he was going to pop the question. He knew that in all likelihood she would most likely turn him down, but considering the fact that she had believed that they had been married in the dream that she had while unconscious and didn't seem to mind the whole marriage topic at that point in time, he figured that he would give it a try. And if she did say no, there was no rule about asking her until she finally submitted to the idea or the more likely option of her punching him in the jaw.

"Hey Bones." He said, walking into her office that afternoon.

She looked up from her desk and smiled through tired eyes, "Hey Booth."

"Woah," he said, "Has anyone told you how gorgeous you look when sleep deprived?" he asked, giving her the charm smile that she both loved and hated.

She laughed and leaned her head on her hand, "Has anyone ever told you that you're extremely charming when you lie?"

Booth laughed, "I don't lie about you being beautiful." He said sitting down across from her desk, "And, yes, as a matter of fact, you told me once that I was charming."

Brennan raised her eyebrows, "Point of fact, I did not call you charming, I merely told you not to use your charm smile on me."

"Tomato, Tomahto." He winked at her.

Brennan laughed, "What are you doing here?" she asked, looking at the clock on her computer, "Don't you have Parker tonight? He's getting out of school about now." She said.

Booth shook his head, "Nope. It's just you and me, babe."

"Don't call me babe." She said, turning back to her work.

"I seem to remember you saying that about 'Bones'. It'll grow on you."

"That nickname never grew on me Booth, I just became tired of saying that all the time; and 'babe' is even worse." She said.

"What could be worse than babe?" he pondered out loud.

Brennan shrugged and signed off on a document, "I have no idea, but I've heard worse, I guess."

"How about princess?" he asked, nodding his head and smiling widely.

Brennan groaned, "Babe is fine."

Booth laughed, "Great. Now that that is settled," he said standing up and picking up her bag, "I'm taking you out for a fancy dinner."

Brennan 'ohh'ed, "Are we going to the diner again?" she asked sarcastically.

Booth mocked laughing, "No, we're actually going out. I told the guys at the office that a few of them might accidentally fall down some stairs if they called us tonight. So you are going to go home and put on a fancy dress and I will pick you up at seven." He said handing her her bag and rolling her chair, with her in it, out of her office.

"But I still have…" she tried to say.

He spun the chair around and kissed her, effectively shutting her up. He pulled back and smiled at her, "Go home."

"But what if…" He rolled his eyes and kissed her again. This time when he pulled back she smiled mischievously, "And the bones in…" she said, but he just stared at her, "Hey! Why aren't you kissing me again!" she complained.

Booth laughed, "Because we need to get going."

Brennan sighed dramatically, "Fine…" She said smiling. She pulled on his tie and the chair rolled her toward him as she forced another kiss out of him, "I'll see you in a few hours." She said. Brennan stood up from the chair and pushed it toward him to put back in her office and turned away.

Before she knew it, Booth was standing at her door, "Hey." She said, swinging the door open and smiling at the bouquet of daffodils he held in his hand.

"You look gorgeous." He said, stepping inside her apartment and looking her up and down.

She smiled and looked down at her dress, "Thanks. So, are you ready to go?"

Booth smiled and handed her the flowers, "Yeah. I think so."

She gestured to the flowers and smiled, "I'll just put these in water, okay?"

Booth nodded and watched her walk into the kitchen. This was it; he was going to propose. He closed the door to her apartment and dug the ring box out of his pocket and debated whether or not to get down on one knee; deciding that he would because then she wouldn't be able to kick him in the testicles if that was one of her reactions.

He heard her heels clicking in the kitchen toward him. As she rounded the corner she stopped at the sight before her and gasped.

"Bones, Temperance, I…" was all he could get out.

"Damnit!" she yelled and then growled. His face went from nervous to petrified in a moment and he immediately stood up.

She charged passed him and over to her dining table where her purse sat, not facing him, "Bones, I'm so sorry. It's just that I love you so much; I had to ask, I would never have been happy with myself if I didn't at least ask you." He said, hurriedly trying to explain himself to her.

Brennan turned around and looked at him and he was surprised not to see a look of horror on her face but one of amusement, "Seeley Booth. I have been carrying this damn thing around for days hoping that I would find the perfect opportunity and now you've gone ahead with all of your Alpha maleness and stole my parade rain!" she half yelled half laughed.

Booth looked at her quizzically, "Parade rain?" he asked.

Brennan seized the moment as his hand turned upward to plop the ring box into his hand. He looked down and saw the blue velvet box and looked up at her, more confused than ever. Brennan then took the other box out of his hand and opened it to reveal a white gold ring with a princess cut diamond set in the center and surrounded by begets.

"It's beautiful." She said, almost in a non-Temperance Brennan dreamlike state.

Booth, who was still completely confused, hesitantly opened up the ring box Temperance gave to him and looked down to find a ring for himself, "You were going to ask me to marry you?" he asked, flabbergasted.

Temperance stole her eyes away from her ring to look at her now fiancé, "Yes; hence the engagement ring." She said smiling up at him, "I was going to do it after dinner tonight, but you beat me to it."

Booth laughed, "Well, I guess this means that we're getting married then." He said.

Brennan smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, "I guess so." She said, then pulling him in for a kiss.

After a moment of being on cloud nine, Booth pulled back, "We're going to be late for our reservations." He said regretfully.

Brennan rolled her eyes, "I made reservations for us." And the mischievous tone in her voice begged the question Booth voiced.

"Where?" he asked.

Brennan smiled, "It's very exclusive, you know. It's a new restaurant called 'my bedroom'. Ever been there?"

Booth laughed, "I've been to the significant other part of the restaurant but never the fiancé V.I.P. room."

Brennan snorted, "Where did you make reservations?" she asked seriously this time.

"Citronelle." He said.

"Oh! Have you ever eaten there?" she asked.

Booth shook his head, "Nah, but I thought you might like it."

"I do, very much. We should go. You would love it, Booth, but we'll probably need to get a pizza afterwards." She said.

Booth laughed, "Why don't we just do that then?"

Brennan pulled out of his arms and packed up her purse again, "I'm really in the mood for pizza." She said truthfully.

"Good." Booth said walking to the door and opening it up, "We'll get pizza and that will save us hundreds of dollars to go ice skating and to the movies and maybe some dancing and drinks or… whatever you want."

Brennan turned and smiled at him, "All of that sounds wonderful, Booth. Let me just grab my jacket from my room, okay?"

Booth nodded and watched as his fiancé strutted down the hallway to her bedroom when he was interrupted by a girl with a wheeled cart and boxes crashed into the wall, "Dang!" she shouted and hoped on her one foot precariously.

Booth ran out into the hall to help clean up the small mess of overturned boxes, "Hey, you okay?" he asked.

The girl rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I'm fine. Moving is such a pain though you know?" she said.

Booth looked at her, "I didn't know there were any vacancies in the building."

"Oh!" the girl said, letting go of her foot and helping restack the boxes, "There aren't any actually…" she said, but was cut off by Brennan's voice.

"Booth?" she said stepping out of the doorway, "Oh there you are!" she said, closing the door and locking it.

"Bones, this young lady is moving into your building." He said gesturing to her, "This is Doctor Temperance Brennan and I'm Seeley Booth and we just got engaged!" Booth bragged.

"Oh! That is so wonderful, congratulations!" The girl said. Brennan turned around, looked at the girl and froze, "That's so wonderful." The girl shrieked.

Booth laughed and looked over at Brennan who had lost all color in her face, "You okay, Bones?" he asked, concern filling his features.

Brennan shook her head and calmed herself, it was just a dream she thought to herself, "Yeah," she smiled, "I'm fine." She turned to the girl, "You said you were moving in?" she asked.

The girl nodded, "Yeah. As I was telling your fiancé, I'm actually going to be a live in nanny for the Walker family down the hall, so…" she said.

Brennan nodded, "Well, we should probably be going." She nodded at Booth.

The girl waved and smiled at the couple, "It was nice meeting you two. Have fun!"

"It was nice meeting you too, uh…" Booth stammered.

"Julia." She finished for him.

Brennan's stomach bottomed out. She grabbed Booth's arm and pulled him down the hallway.

"Bones, what is going on?" he asked.

Brennan shook her head and pressed the button to call the elevator, "I'm moving in with you tomorrow and we're going to start looking for a house." She said definitively.

"Really?" he asked.

"Oh yeah." Brennan said, "Really."

The End!


End file.
